Character Rigging Director

Requisition Number: 119204

Position Title: Senior Artist 2

External Description:

Rigging Director

Who we are.

We are a centralized rigging dept. within the CRAFT organization supporting EA Studios games including FIFA, Madden NFL, NBA, NHL, UFC, Plants vs Zombies & Need for Speed. We develop, support, and facilitate artistic and technical infrastructure that maximizes believable performances, animation workflows, and innovation.

What the Rigging Director will do:

This is a director level role with a focus on leadership and technical supervision, overseeing animation workflow and pipeline design and implementation, and the development of complex character rigs and character rigging systems, workflows and pipelines. This role will oversee a team of technical artists working together to create integrated character performance solutions that meet the technical and aesthetic requirements of each ongoing project in production across the studio.

The Rigging Director will be working within the rigging department and partnering with the game team animation leads and other central teams to ensure they are leveraging the highest quality content with the tools and assets provided. Additionally, the Rigging Director will oversee the development and support of efficient workflows pipelines for production and need a good eye for aesthetics, including anatomy and deformation, contributing to critiques and ultimately the team and company’s success.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities:

• Oversee the design and development of rigging and animation workflows in collaboration with content creators and engineers.
• Oversee the development of character and prop rigs for animation, deformation and rendering.
• Supervise the implementation of skin and muscle behaviors for a variety of characters.
• Support of tools and technologies used by content creators for animation.
• Oversee Integration cinematics and gameplay animation content into proprietary game engine.
• Partner closely with the Animation department to ensure the successful handoff and performance of character rigs.
• Provide creative and technical problem solving with a view to delivering efficient quality art and animation.
• Provide regular updates and reports to department and organizational leadership and game team partners.
• Actively investigate opportunities for pipeline and workflow efficiency increases.
• Drive process, quality, cross studio communication, and team culture.
• Participate in the creation of technical standards and conventions for rigging, including standards for directory structure, file and node naming and versioning, etc.
• Provide mentorship, guidance, and develop training programs for rigging staff.
• Develop and maintain documentation for workflows, pipelines, technical processes and tools.
• Define and estimate tasks in a well-organized manner and ensure team members

Who you are:

• At least 7 years performing duties of a lead or supervisor of rigging in gaming and/or film.
• Significant experience with tool creation for rigging/animation workflows on multiple shows
• Strong understanding of rigging and animation content creation processes for games and its technical constraints.
• Working knowledge of Python and/or C#. Familiarity with the Maya API, Qt, and/or WPF a plus.
• Proven experience supervising the design, implementation and maintenance of animation content workflows.
• Understanding of physical motion, weight, balance and form.
• Knowledge of human and animal anatomy.
• Experience with motion capture pipelines and data management, including retargeting.
• Strong experience with standard industry tools including Maya and Motion Builder.
• Experience with editor-based game development environments e.g. Unreal, Unity etc.
• Have an aptitude for leadership and communication within and between teams.
• Excellent problem-solving skills. Must be able to quickly identify issues and proactively implement solutions.
• Ability to prioritize hit deadlines and maintain consistent productivity in a fast-paced environment.
• Open to taking direction and capable of embracing change.
• Have a proactive and self-directed work ethic.
• Computer graphics/animation/science degree or equivalent experience preferred.
• Games development experience preferred

We Thought You Might Also Want to Know:

• We love to brag about our great perks like comprehensive health and benefit packages, tuition reimbursement, 401k with company match and, of course, free video games. And since we realize it takes world-class people to make world-class games, we offer competitive compensation packages and a culture that thrives off of creativity and individuality. At EA, we live the “work hard/play hard” credo every day.
• More about our location: https://careers.ea.com/locations/usa/orlando

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Community / Marketing Title: Character Rigging Director

Company Profile:

We are a global team of creators, storytellers, technologists, experience originators, innovators and so much more. We believe amazing games and experiences start with teams as diverse as the players and communities we serve. At Electronic Arts, the only limit is your imagination.

EEOText:

About Electronic Arts

Everything we do is designed to inspire the world to play. Through our cutting-edge games, innovative services, and powerful technologies, we bring worlds with infinite possibilities to millions of players and fans around the globe.

We’re looking for collaborative and inclusive people with diverse perspectives who will enrich our culture and challenge us. We take a holistic approach with our benefits program, focusing on physical, emotional, financial, career, and community wellness to support our people through every chapter of life. We provide comprehensive benefit packages and support for a balanced life with paid time off and new parent leave, plus free games and so much more. Our goal is to provide a safe and respectful workplace that empowers you to thrive in both work and life.

Electronic Arts is an equal opportunity employer. All employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, genetic information, religion, disability, medical condition, pregnancy, marital status, family status, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We will also consider employment qualified applicants with criminal records in accordance with applicable law. EA also makes workplace accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities as required by applicable law.

Days Open: 88

Can this position be remote?:

EEO Employer Verbiage:

About Electronic Arts

Everything we do is designed to inspire the world to play. Through our cutting-edge games, innovative services, and powerful technologies, we bring worlds with infinite possibilities to millions of players and fans around the globe.

We’re looking for collaborative and inclusive people with diverse perspectives who will enrich our culture and challenge us. We take a holistic approach with our benefits program, focusing on physical, emotional, financial, career, and community wellness to support our people through every chapter of life. We provide comprehensive benefit packages and support for a balanced life with paid time off and new parent leave, plus free games and so much more. Our goal is to provide a safe and respectful workplace that empowers you to thrive in both work and life.

Electronic Arts is an equal opportunity employer. All employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, genetic information, religion, disability, medical condition, pregnancy, marital status, family status, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We will also consider employment qualified applicants with criminal records in accordance with applicable law. EA also makes workplace accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities as required by applicable law.